Stewart's 2023 Baseball Trip

 Today was a day game for a change, so there was no lovely sunset to see.  In fact, the weather forecast wasn't very good at all, so I made a dinner reservation for later than usual just in case there was a couple of hours delay due to rain. However, the Weather Channel proved to be wrong again.  Although it was cloudy, it didn't rain until after the game was over. I was further around the third base side today, in case it had been sunny, as this area is always in the shade during day times - but it was cloudy! This was a terrifically exciting game, with the Orioles one game ahead in the division with only a couple of weeks to go in the regular season.  There was much despair in the crowd when Tampa Bay scored twice in the 8th inning to take a 3-1 lead.   However, star catcher Adley Rutschmann hit a home run in the home team's 8th to close to 3-2 and then down to their final out and strike, the Orioles' Frazier hit a double and scored a run to send the game int...

 I've been feeling better, but I didn't really go anywhere much today. However, I did to to the game in the evening and having lost 4 games in a row and allowed the Tampa Bay Rays to draw level at the top of the division, the Orioles snapped their losing streak and won the game, so there were lots of fireworks to celebrate the win

The transport options available in Baltimore seem to have changed since I was last there.  I'm sure the water taxis used to run every day, even after Labor Day, but now they only run on Saturdays and Sundays.  There is the free Harbour Connector boat, which does run Wednesday to Friday, but it is only three routes.  These boats are an extension of the Charm City Circulator coloured bus routes - the Purple route is ideal for me to go between Penn Station and my hotel, rather than relying on the Light Rail, which cost money and is further away from my hotel. So I took two boats along to the far end of the harbour for a much longer walk around the harbour today, back along the waterfront past Fells Point and then back to the hotel before going out to dinner. This lighthouse is a historical preservation, not an active one as it wouldn't do much good here!   There are a lot fewer people about now that summer has been declared over, and lots of things are closed.  I t...

Unfortunately, I now seem to have a very bad cold - or rather something scratched my throat a couple of days ago and it's going to take a week for it to get better.   I did go for another walk around the harbour on Thursday, not going too far.  I walked around to the Rusty Scupper restaurant and had this view across the harbour whilst having dinner. I saw birds having a bath at the side of the road where the sprinklers had been watering the plants and drained off into a puddle at the side of the road.   I did feel well enough to go to the game anyway, which was the first game of a 4 game series against the Tampa Bay Rays - who are the Baltimore Orioles big rivals for the AL East division.  I haven't been able to get a ticket for game 2 on Friday night. One visitor has made an early appearance - you don't often see this man at baseball games, just at NFL games once it gets to December - even though he was famously booed by the tough crowd in Philadelphia a few years b...

 I didn't really do a lot on Wednesday as I wasn't feeling that well.  It's still picturesque. Again, it was Bark at the Park night and all the dogs were with their owners over on the left hand side in the bottom section, just along from bullpens.  The setting sun always lights up the warehouse in an amazing way.

I decided to eat in the hotel bar this morning since my train was due to leave at 11:02 and I wanted to leave 45 minutes to get to the railway station (it's 30 minutes walk away, but I wanted to go on the subway as it's quicker with luggage)   The location of this hotel really is superb.  I took these two photos to show the balcony at night and then again in the morning. I'd booked  a ticket on the grandly named "Silver Star" service that runs all the way from New York to Miami, even though I was only going as far as Baltimore.  It takes in a day and a half to get all the way to southern Florida!  However, the seats are really comfortable and spacious. The journey was delayed departing for 20 minutes or so, but that gave me time to buy an iced coffee at the station in the brand new train hall that has been added at Penn Station which is light, airy and clean! I had intended to take the Light Rail service down to the centre of Baltimore, but Google Maps sugg...

My love/hate relationship with the Weather Channel app took another turn for the worse today, as it promised a storm-filled afternoon, with the trouble starting around 2pm.  I had decided to go for a walk along Rockaway beach out at the end of the 'A' subway line, so despite it being warm and sunny, I took my coat with me when I left around 10am.  Not having the hotel breakfast has allowed me to set off earlier in the day than I would have done previously, so I thought that I would go as far along the beach as I could until the weather turned and then get on the subway back to the city and dash back the one block to the hotel. It took nearly two hours to get to Rockaway Park, as despite it being the same line, I had to change at Rockaway Boulevard and again at Braod Channel for the shuttle to the end of the line.  I walked along the shoreline, able to paddle in the remarkably warm - or rather not-bitterly-cold -  Atlantic Ocean.  I stopped for a beefburger for l...

There was rain about in the morning and there were occasional flashes of lightning, so I decicded to not go up to Yankee Stadium for the advertised 13:35 game, but instead went to a local diner for brunch having not bothered with the $35 breakfast at the hotel.  In the past I think I have missed out on eating in nice places by sticking with hotel breakfasts, but especially when you've on Broadway, there's a huge choice of places. I chose Ellen's Stardust Diner, albeit a little sceptical of the promise of singing serving staff, but I needn't have worried, as it was great.  All the serving staff are looking for their big break to get into a show.  You can also donate towards the scholarship fund that pays only for the staff's acting, singing and dancing lessons.  However, they take it in turns to perform right there in the middle of the diner up on a small catwalk or on the upper flor balcony - or sometimes walking around, one of them even delivering the bills to tabl...

 My driver arrived in good time for my 05:30 pickup and after a bit of chat at the start, had a quiet journey down to Heathrow, arriving just after 7am.  I had already seen last night that my plane had been an hour late leaving, so I expected that my flight would be delayed similarly, and indeed it was an hour late departing.  However, I was able to have breakfast in the lounge and wait there umtil it was ready to board.  As usual, the gate for my flight was right at the far end of the concourse. Since I booked so late, I had had a limited choice of seats, and I was in a centre seat which has no view out of a window which was a shame, atlhough the view is only really important on take-off and landing.  The food was good and Kristy looked after our aisle very well.  Despite leaving 40 minutes late, we touched down on time at 13:08 and despite the Global Entry kiosk rejecting me (apparently because it's been so long since I visited the USA) I was able to go t...

I've left it rather late to book everything this year, although I don't think I've ever set off without having all the hotels booked, but I don't have the last few days sorted out yet because it's turning out to be very expensive everywhere in Washington DC, so I'm continuing to look there. I had the day off today to get ready, so I was able to do washing and get it all dried, and go into town to get a few last-minute things. The usual car company I use for airport transfers is under new ownership now and they quoted a ridiculously high price to get me to Heathrow, so I'm going with a different company recommended by my manager at work.  They are coming to pick me up at 5.30am, with my flight due to take off at 10am.  I'm all checked-in and ESTA-approved and my Global Entry renewal has gone through in what seems like record time, so I'm all set to go in the morning.